


Dying Light

by Mara360



Category: Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Steam is Bad For My Brain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-29 09:18:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6368986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara360/pseuds/Mara360
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Ellis is separated from the group, he runs into a Charger. Mistaken for being dead, the Charger leaves him to bleed to death. It seems that no one will come to help him this time. Wait, what's that crying near him...?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dying Light

Trudging through the ruined city, four weary travelers were searching for someplace safe to camp out. They'd heard of several evacuation stations, but ignored them all, on account of every previous place being overrun with zombies. The damn infection was everywhere - in the water, in the air, in the blood... Nowhere was safe. No one could be considered safe. It was through luck, or a miracle, that the four current travelers were immune. Or perhaps it was unlucky, considering that they could be the last unaffected infected humans on this earth. Well, them and those other three that had escaped on a boat to god-knows-where.

Nick, a middle-aged con-man, had taken point, his eyes and ears wide open for any oncoming attacks. Rochelle, former newswoman, was behind him. She had her eyes and ears peeled as well, but she was mainly concerned with the man behind her, Coach, a former physical education teacher. Rounding up the back was Ellis, the redneck mechanic, who had his eyes and ears wide open as well. Everyone was weary, tired, and two of them were jumping at every shadow. It was quiet, surprisingly. Aside from distant gunshots, and the occasional moan, there was no noise. Ellis looked around and strained his ears for a bit before deciding to speak in a quiet voice, so that no nearby zombies could detect them.

"I ever tell you guys about the time when Keith and I decided to open up our shop?" he started off, "We were down on our luck, at least for the time we were, and so Keith decided that we could run a mechanic shop. He'd handle the money and I-"

"Ellis, sweetie, is now a good time?" Rochelle asked, a tired tone straining her calm facade.

Ellis fell silent, focusing his efforts on keeping everyone safe. After a bit, Nick stopped them.

"Hold up, I think this might be our most secure option." Nick stated, pointing to the house nearest to the group.

"Finally..." Rochelle said.

Coach looked the house up and down. "You sure Nick? Something about this place feels a bit off."

"Unless you know of a good spot?" Nick stated, "Let's get inside, board up the windows and doors, the usual..."

"You guys go ahead and get inside. I'll keep watch." Ellis said, pulling out his shotgun.

The others agreed and headed inside. While the others searched and cleaned house, Ellis was left alone with his thoughts. His mind drifted back to before all of this. His friends, his band, the store... Everything before the damn infection hit. There was a weight of heartache in his chest when he recalled his past. He'd wished he could've somehow prevented all of this.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard a loud bull-like groan pierce the dark. His eyes were wide and he held his breath as he tried to find out where the sound came from. At first, he thought that it was just a phantom noise, a side-effect for not sleeping properly. But then another similar sound came out, sounding somewhat closer this time. Ellis had his gun raised, his breathing suddenly becoming erratic as he tried to find the beast in the dark. Infected be damned, he wasn't going to go down without a fight, but if he could avoid it all together it would be for the best. For just a few seconds, there wasn't any noise. Then a few more seconds. Then a few more. Ellis relaxed slightly, trying to steady his breathing. He needed to get some rest, or he was going to go crazy.He was about to turn to enter the building and check on the group when a loud bull-like cry rang out. Ellis had no time to react as he was slammed into and whisked away down the street. The Charger ran for quite a bit until they ran into a building a few blocks away. The air rushed out of Ellis's lungs and he dropped his gun. All he could smell was infection and rotten flesh as the Charger had him pinned. His eyes widened in quite a bit of fear as he was raised into the air, mind reeling as he tried to think of ways to escape. He had one idea, but it was far-fetched. Unfortunately, there was no other option.

As soon as the Charger slammed him into the ground, he went limp, closing his eyes, and held his breath as long as he could. The Charger seemed to pause, breathing down at Ellis. The stench of carrion filled Ellis's nose, and it took every ounce of self-control to keep from reacting. Slamming him one last time, the Charger threw him aside. There was a snapping noise, and Ellis bit down on his cheek to keep from crying out as a surge of pain shot through his right arm. He listened for the signs of the infected before he picked himself up and looked around.

He was a few blocks away from where he used to be, sans a gun and working arm. Fortunately, he wasn't too far away, and he had the advantage of cover now from the ruined building where the infected threw him. It was by pure luck that he hadn't landed on anything that could have easily impaled him. Now if he could just pick himself off of the ground and get moving...

Ellis heard a sobbing noise near him and he instinctively held his breath his eyes darting around wildly for the source. Just a foot away from him was a Witch. Her back was turned to him; she didn't seem to notice him... yet. Ellis swallowed back any words or noises that was trying to escape his throat, keeping his breathing shallow and as quiet as he could. One mistake, and it would be his last. Slowly he backed away with his legs and good arm, backing against a wall where he braced himself and moved himself upright. His eyes darted around for potential escape routes, the blue orbs bouncing back to check on the Witch. All of them would be in her range of sight, and they were too far away to simply make a run for it. He backed away further, against the wall, seeing if there could be a back door or a path that he was unable to see. His hand glided smoothly against the warped paper. For a second he had hope that he could escape...

Then there was a creak underneath his feet.

The Witch gasped, whipping her head to the source of the sound. Ellis stood perfectly still, keeping his breathing as shallow as he could without suffocating. She slowly staggered up, clawed hands poised to strike, low soft growls were changing into loud angry noises. He wanted to punch the bitch and run, but where? The only way out he could see was past her and she was approaching him, closing the distance between them. Instead, he hoped he could trick the Witch and remain still. The witch was inches from his face and he'd held his breath at this point. She seemed to grow more and more calm as he just stood there, unmoving. It wasn't until his vision started to nearly go black when he heard the Witch start to walk away and cry again. After she'd moved a safe distance, he was able to breathe again, he walked away from the crying noise, and tried to get his bearings. Which road did the Charger whisk him down again?

He got his answer when he saw someone familiar run down a street. It was Nick, of all people.

"Nick! Man I ain't never been so glad t'seeya!" Ellis stated

"You doin' alright kid?" Nick said, looking him up and down, "Aside from... that." he indicated to Ellis' broken arm

"I'll tell ya about it when we get back." Ellis said, "Don't much like sitting out in the open."

"Fair enough." Nick responded.

They walked down the street again, back to the house that Nick had spotted earlier. After barricading the door, and being tackled by Rochelle, Ellis was able to get his arm slung up. He regaled his story as he was being patched up - the Charger, playing dead, the Witch - everything. Rochelle looked concerned for him, Coach was impressed, and Nick seemed to be unreadable, as usual.

"Man... I mean, I didn't especially expect that t'work, but man-oh- _man_ did it work!" Ellis finished.

"You just got lucky." Nick said, "I'm sure if anything else had come up and tried to kill you, it would've. So next time, I'm taking watch." Nick sighed. "Go get some rest. I'll pull a double shift tonight."

"You sure you can handle that?" Coach asked.

"Been through hell and back. I can stand a little lack of sleep." Nick took his gun and took a look out the window, watching for threats.

Ellis was glad for the rest. As he lay down to sleep, his tired eyes looked around at his companions.

_Once we get to New Orleans, everything is gonna be okay._

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place before The Parish, obviously. There's no real reason for this to exist other than I've been playing too much L4D2 recently. There may be more to come. Maybe a series of fics and ficlettes along this same vein. Not really sure yet.


End file.
